Starting again from scratch - help & advice please
Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2022 11:00 am
After moving from pillar to post for months on end, we've now managed to rent a flat in Kent - for a year - ie some stability.
(We had 11 darned house moves - during two evacs - one for Covid and then because of the Russian invasion. But now that posting is over and we'll be based back in Blighty for a while at least.)
This is a nice flat, smaller than we're used to but with a bit of imagination it could be great. It doesn''t have a garden but it does have a decent-sized south facing roof terrace (paved), which gets nice and sunny when the weather is nice. (9m long x 3.6m wide)
I've had some success before in this area with growing a nice herb garden in a large container on the patio of our house (which now has tenants in). I'm thinking container gardening is the way to go.
More info:
I love Asian food so I tend to buy exotic things you'd not normally find in the supermarket, although items like Thai basil, etc, are easier to find these days. They can often be expensive and it's nicer anyway to grow your own and use it as soon as you've picked it. Also, you don't have to buy a big bag if you only want a few leaves or sprigs.
As a keen cook, and not much of a gardener, I only want to grow edible plants. (If I want a bunch of flowers to put in a vase on the table, I'll pay a fiver and get it from Sainsbury's.)
In Kyiv we had very large windowsills so I had hydroponic systems on them, which basically meant I could ignore the seasons.
QUESTIONS
So, what do I do next? I realise that this isn't the growing season. But is there anything I could or should be doing now?
I'd thought to get the containers from B&Q or similar, plus compost. Any better ideas and what kind of compost should I go for?
I'd expect to buy my seeds online from a company which specialises in "exotic" plants/seeds.
I'd be glad of any advice you might have to get me a kitchen garden again. I have serious mobility problems so an allotment is out of the question.
Thanks in advance!
(We had 11 darned house moves - during two evacs - one for Covid and then because of the Russian invasion. But now that posting is over and we'll be based back in Blighty for a while at least.)
This is a nice flat, smaller than we're used to but with a bit of imagination it could be great. It doesn''t have a garden but it does have a decent-sized south facing roof terrace (paved), which gets nice and sunny when the weather is nice. (9m long x 3.6m wide)
I've had some success before in this area with growing a nice herb garden in a large container on the patio of our house (which now has tenants in). I'm thinking container gardening is the way to go.
More info:
I love Asian food so I tend to buy exotic things you'd not normally find in the supermarket, although items like Thai basil, etc, are easier to find these days. They can often be expensive and it's nicer anyway to grow your own and use it as soon as you've picked it. Also, you don't have to buy a big bag if you only want a few leaves or sprigs.
As a keen cook, and not much of a gardener, I only want to grow edible plants. (If I want a bunch of flowers to put in a vase on the table, I'll pay a fiver and get it from Sainsbury's.)
In Kyiv we had very large windowsills so I had hydroponic systems on them, which basically meant I could ignore the seasons.
QUESTIONS
So, what do I do next? I realise that this isn't the growing season. But is there anything I could or should be doing now?
I'd thought to get the containers from B&Q or similar, plus compost. Any better ideas and what kind of compost should I go for?
I'd expect to buy my seeds online from a company which specialises in "exotic" plants/seeds.
I'd be glad of any advice you might have to get me a kitchen garden again. I have serious mobility problems so an allotment is out of the question.
Thanks in advance!